After Yang Kai left, Ling Taixu's expression gradually grew solemn.
Though the violent, bloodthirsty aura clinging to Yang Kai posed no harm to the boy himself, Ling Taixu couldn't help but consider matters on a far deeper level.
After contemplating for a long while, he let out a heavy sigh. "Could it be that this brat intends to prove the martial dao through slaughter?"
That blood-soaked, violent aura—the kind that could make even his heart clench with unease—had already sunk deep into Yang Kai's very bones. To fathom the true essence of the martial dao in the future, there were only two paths. One was to purge that aura entirely and switch to a more peaceful cultivation technique.
But Yang Kai had been born with lacking foundations. He had scraped and fought his way to his current achievements—if he switched techniques and sank back into mediocrity, how could he bear it?
It was one thing to spend your whole life at the bottom, never glimpsing the heights. But once a person had climbed to the summit only to be knocked all the way back down, that kind of blow was something no one could endure.
If he couldn't switch techniques, then the only option was to let that violent, bloody aura reach its full potential, growing ever stronger alongside his own power. Only then could he hope to glimpse the mysteries of the martial dao.
One path was to shatter and rebuild—destruction before creation. The other was to enter the dao through slaughter—a road fraught with peril, where the slightest misstep meant annihilation of body and soul alike. Throughout all of history, those who had tried to prove the martial dao through slaughter rarely met a good end.
For those who walked the path of killing, enemies would always outnumber friends, and there was always the risk of losing oneself in the bloodshed—succumbing to Qi Deviation.
Could a mere child hold true against all of that?
After leaving the Sect Leader, Yang Kai returned to his cave dwelling. He took out the pills that Xia Ningshang had refined for him and consumed them to boost his strength.
The incense burner that had sat untouched for ages was brought out once more. He lit its exotic fragrance to suppress the circulation speed of the True Yang Technique.
For over ten consecutive days, Yang Kai remained in seclusion within his cave. On the one hand, he was consuming pills; on the other, he was nurturing the two Artifacts he had recently refined. The Asura Sword had proven invaluable in his battle against Bai Yunfeng, and though he hadn't used the Thousand-Petal Blood Begonia, it was a sect-guarding treasure of equal caliber from one of the overseas first-rate sects—its power certainly couldn't be lacking.
Each morning, when the purple qi arrived from the east at sunrise, Yang Kai would practice the Proud Bone Golden Body Technique once through. Now that his strength had grown and his physical constitution had improved, his progress in the technique had accelerated considerably—he had reached roughly one-third completion. But the further he advanced, the more grueling it became. With each movement he performed, every bone in his body crackled like a flurry of popping beans.
The cave dwelling was quiet and secluded—an ideal place for seclusion. Xia Ningshang, his senior sister, would drop by from time to time, bringing delicious food to share with Yang Kai. When they had nothing else to do, they would chat idly.
Occasionally, Xia Ningshang would doze off on the stone bed. Whenever that happened, no matter how Yang Kai called out to her, he couldn't wake her.
On this particular day, Yang Kai was deep in cultivation when a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear: "Do you know how to kill?"
The voice appeared without warning. Yang Kai startled, springing to his feet on reflex. Only after recognizing it as Ling Taixu's voice did he realize it had been a false alarm.
"Grandmaster!" Yang Kai looked around but couldn't spot Ling Taixu anywhere. What he did perceive keenly was a thread of Divine Sense drifting about his person.
Ling Taixu repeated the question.
Only then did Yang Kai answer: "I do."
"What kind of person deserves to die?"
Yang Kai frowned, pondering for a moment before replying: "Those who plot against me—I kill them. Those who threaten my friends and family—I kill them. Those who obstruct my cultivation—I kill them. Those who steal my treasures—I kill them. If no one provokes me, I kill no one!"
Whether Ling Taixu actually heard his answer, Yang Kai couldn't tell. After he finished speaking, a long silence stretched with no response.
It wasn't until half a day later that Ling Taixu spoke again: "Prepare yourself. In half a month, I'm taking you somewhere."
"Yes!" Yang Kai didn't ask for details, though he had a vague sense that Ling Taixu had made some kind of plan—and a difficult one at that. Otherwise, the old man wouldn't have fallen silent for so long after hearing his answer.
After a moment's thought, Yang Kai chose not to press further.
Ling Taixu was his grandmaster, and his cultivation was unfathomably deep. If he truly meant Yang Kai harm, he would have struck long ago.
Half a month—neither long nor short. Yang Kai threw himself even more earnestly into his cultivation and pill consumption.
Time flew, and the half month passed in a flash. During this period, Su Yan had visited one night. The two of them had tangled together in a passionate struggle that lasted a good while, and afterward they cultivated together in their dual-cultivation method, drawing nourishment from their union.
Yang Kai had already experienced the benefits of dual cultivation firsthand. The Yuan Qi within his body was growing increasingly pure—though he hadn't yet reached the Zhenyuan Realm, his energy was no less refined than that of an ordinary Zhenyuan Realm warrior. Otherwise, when he had fought Bai Yunfeng that day, his palm blade would never have been able to break through the Sky Net.
Both Yang Kai and Su Yan had tasted the sweetness of their union. They dual-cultivated diligently, and though the frequency wasn't high, the quality was astonishingly potent.
After half a month, Yang Kai had consumed every last pill Xia Ningshang had refined. More than that, meditating and cultivating here in Kunlong Gorge, he had accumulated a small reservoir of Yang Liquid in his dantian. His strength had broken through to the third level of the Separation-Union Realm.
At night, Yang Kai sat in meditation at the mouth of his cave when the sound of billowing robes drifted through the air. Moments later, two figures swept into his dwelling in rapid succession.
"Grandmaster!" Yang Kai rose and bowed, then glanced at the other person with puzzlement. "Manager Meng?"
"Heh heh heh!" Meng Wuya laughed with a peculiar rhythm, his aged face scrunching into a bundle of wrinkles.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, unsure what Meng Wuya found so amusing.
Then, without warning, Meng Wuya's smile vanished. He studied Yang Kai with an expression of uncertainty, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. His palm came down hard on Yang Kai's shoulder while his other hand slapped against the boy's dantian, and he barked in a deep, commanding voice: "Get out of there—now!"